Mahershala Ali in talks for True Detective season 3

Mahershala Ali is in early talks to play a starring role in the forthcoming third series of HBO’s True Detective.

Earlier this year the actor won an Oscar for his supporting role in 2016’s Moonlight, following his involvement with Netflix’s House of Cards and Luke Cage.

As Deadlinereports, no deal is in place with Ali, and a third series of the show has not yet been officially green-lit by the network, but in January HBO’s President of Programming Casey Bloys said he was “hopeful” about season 3 happening, adding that creator Nic Pizzolatto was “closing in on an idea that he is excited about”. Deadwood creator David Milch has been brought in to work with Pizzolatto on the new series.

True Detective season 2 starred Colin Farrell

In 2016 HBO’s former President of Programming, Michael Lombardo, said he “takes the blame” for season 2 of the show, after it received a lukewarm response from fans.

The anthology series returned for a second run in 2015, with its entirely new cast including Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams and Vince Vaughn.

Lombardo told The Frame: “When we tell somebody to hit an air date as opposed to allowing the writing to find its own natural resting place, when it’s ready, when it’s baked — we’ve failed. I think in this particular case, the first season of True Detective was something that Nic Pizzolatto had been thinking about, gestating, for a long period of time. He’s a soulful writer. And I take the blame. I became too much of a network executive at that point. We had huge success. ‘Gee, I’d love to repeat that next year.’”

He went on: “I set him up. To deliver, in a very short time frame, something that became very challenging to deliver. That’s not what that show is. He had to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. Find his muse. And so I think that’s what I learned from it. Don’t do that anymore.”

Lombardo decided to step down as President of Programming in May 2016 and was replaced by HBO’s head of comedy and drama, Casey Bloys.